III • Minorities and effective participation in economic life large presence of minorities, such as agricultural labour, should be reviewed and strengthened to ensure equal protection to that afforded workers in other industries in which there is a predominance of majority populations. 35. Regulatory agencies overseeing the financial services industries should review practices by banks and similar financial institutions to ensure that these institutions comply with standards on non-discrimination in access to credit and financial services. 36. Governments are urged to review legal and regulatory provisions regarding migrant workers, as well as the practices of law enforcement agents and employers, to ensure complete conformity with minority rights and the rights on non-citizens under the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Migrant workers belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minority groups should be enabled to exercise their right to practice their culture, language and religion in community with other members of their group and should be protected from discrimination in all relevant domestic legislation. Access to basic social services, education and labour rights, including social security, should be provided for all migrant workers and their families in accordance with international standards. Women migrant workers may be especially vulnerable to maltreatment in the form of non-payment of wages and, in some cases, mental, physical and sexual abuse. 37. Governments should take special measures to address disparities with regard to the participation of minorities in economic life, including the effects of direct and indirect discrimination. Robust programmes should be undertaken, especially in the fields of employment, education and training, political representation, financial services, land tenure and property rights and/or social security.4 Affirmative action 4 See general recommendation 32 of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the meaning and scope of special measures in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Compilation of Recommendations of the First Four Sessions 2008 to 2011 35 ECONOMIC LIFE 34. Many persons belonging to minorities are self-employed in small businesses. Governments should ensure that such businesses have equal protection before the law. Business support agencies or business-related policy reforms should take steps to ensure equal access for minority business owners and accommodation of cultural or religious particularities. Governments should ensure that the impact on minority businesses of the financial crisis and of fiscal, monetary or other policies to address the crisis are monitored, and that steps are taken to ensure that such businesses are not disproportionately harmed. Businesses in the informal economy, where many minority businesses are concentrated, should have access to simplified licensing or registration procedures to bring them fairly and without discrimination into formal sector protections and social securities. Financial services, including credit services, should be monitored to ensure non-discriminatory access to such services by minorities. Special measures should be taken to ensure access by minority women to bank loans, mortgages and other forms of financial credit. Where applicable, culturally or religiously appropriate lending practices should be encouraged.